BRIDGING THE RURAL-URBAN DIVIDE Rural India presents a great study in contrast from State to State, from region to region and from district to district. Take the case of Punjab and Haryana where one could see lush farmyards stretching as far as the eyes can wander. Assam presents a different topography with houses perched on the slopes of steep hills. The annual floods in Brahmaputra have a great bearing on the rural economy in Assam. Neighbours in peninsular India, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, are poles apart in the life and village patterns. Kerala has as many as 44 rivers and several lakes and backwaters. While there is heavy rain in Kerala from June to September during the South-West Monsoon and from November to December during the receding North-East Monsoon, Tamil Nadu is blessed with only the North-East Monsoon. Water scarcity affects most of the village in Tamil Nadu. Yet it is Tamil Nadu that provides rice, vegetables and fruits for Kerala whose rice production has come down with paddy fields giving way to coconut farms, bananas plantations and construction of houses. Kerala is known for its coconuts cashew, pepper, rubber and other cash crops. Things have changed a lot in village India, yet people still migrate in large numbers... read more